Beer Donation or Tip Jar?

Ok, i saw this brought up in another thread.

People have set out donation jars for the neighbors or friends to drop in some coin to help with the brewing costs.

Is this Kosher?

Obviously no one is intending to make a buck, but to help with the costs of ingredients?

I have been comtemplating it, but for two reasons i have not.
They are:
1. to lazy to place jar by taps.
2. SWMBO says it is tacky.


What do you do?

Do you ask for donations?

Reverend JC said:

Ok, i saw this brought up in another thread.

People have set out donation jars for the neighbors or friends to drop in some coin to help with the brewing costs.

Is this Kosher?

Obviously no one is intending to make a buck, but to help with the costs of ingredients?

I have been comtemplating it, but for two reasons i have not.
They are:
1. to lazy to place jar by taps.
2. SWMBO says it is tacky.


What do you do?

Do you ask for donations?

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Five Bucks a pint.


Seriously though, unless your friends are deadbeats they should have no problem kicking in 5 bucks for a session. They'd have to spend 20 on a regular backyard drinking binge anyway...

5 bucks for 3-4-5 pints? Sounds more than fair to me, both from the homebrewing and regular joe perspective. A six-pack is like 12 bucks here.
Not saying to enforce it, or kick out the broke friends, but they should know it takes money and time to brew, you know?

Oh, and the first taste is free

Your SWMBO is correct. You would be better off asking your friends to help in the making of it, share it the costs and then take some home.

I've got my hard costs for the brew down to ridiculous (less than $7 per 5 gallons), but it's the time, labor and investment in equipment and inventory that adds up.

I don't mind sharing my beer, but I don't have folks stopping by just to drink it either.

i have them trade me for micro's or if they request a whole batch they cover costs+time

I think it would be pretty tacky... If your friends are coming over for a pint or two, no big deal... When my friends and I start out with a few pints at my place and then go to the bar, if they drank a few of my HBs they'll usually pick up the first few rounds.

On the other hand, if it gets to the point where your friends are bringing their other friends over and you're going through a full cornie over the course of a football or baseball game, then they're abusing your generosity and should definitely kick in a few bucks If they're good friends you shouldn't have to ask, they should be courteous enough to just pony up the dough on their own

cnbudz said:

On the other hand, if it gets to the point where your friends are bringing their other friends over and you're going through a full cornie over the course of a football or baseball game, then they're abusing your generosity and should definitely kick in a few bucks.

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With friends like that, I'd save a couple of cornies with just about a quart of beer left in them, then get them connected before the game just to watch the reaction as keg after keg blows before the first quarter. Then see who volunteers to go get beer at halftime. :cross:

I don't have people in my house I don't like.
So my visitors are welcome to my beer.

For me, brewing is a fun hobby. I do it because I want to make different beer and see what I can personally accomplish. If I didn't have friends drinking it all, I'd probably die, so I am happy to give it away.

I guess the only flip of the coin scenario I'd see is if your friends only really ever came to your house because you have the beer and that's why they're there. But that's not the case with the people I know, so it doesn't really matter to me. If I didn't want to share, I would have picked a less shareable hobby.

We just had a huge block party and I had a couple of kegs out for people to enjoy. I did not have a tip jar out but I did have a couple of neighbors ask about bartering-for-beer. I have a couple of small projects in the works and one of them has all the tools necessary. He's going to help me with the project and I'll keep him stocked on beer. I don't need the money and like sharing my creations. But a little help around the house is always welcome.

orfy said:

I don't have people in my house I don't like.
So my visitors are welcome to my beer.

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Right on.

I'd be worried about this...the neighbors are starting to hit your HB pretty hard, so you decide to defray your costs with the "tip jar". This (or something else)pisses off one of said neighbors, who then calls the cops and you're busted for illegal sales.

As i was browsing the good ol net i came across a good picture of the conical fermentor i would like to buy, perhaps i should put a picture of that out and a jar next to it.

I really only have a handful of guys (high school and college buddies) that come over and usually end up drinking about 5 pints a piece. not a big deal, but it is to the point they are so used to it they dont even throw out a thanks. Dont get me wrong, i dont need the gratitude but come on. I dont propagate my yeast yet so my cost per batch is about 8 bucks higher than yours Ed, which is still cheap, but when i didnt brew i also did not invite them over to my house for a case or two of beer i bought each weekend, they would bring some of their own.

orfy said:

I don't have people in my house I don't like.
So my visitors are welcome to my beer.

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Yeah, I usually try to keep the rif-raf and random jerks out of my house. But since I live closest to the downtown area out my group of friends, fairly often the night will begin and/or end at my place so inevitably some people I don't know very well end up coming over. I'm more than happy to share my beer with them but I do have a rule: If you open it, you finish it. "I thought it would be more like budweiser" is not an acceptable reason to waste one of my beers...

Mine is on tap so it seems to flow very very freely.


The upside to all of this, if i have a batch that is lets say not my favorite i tell them they have to help me drain that keg until we drink for another.

Obviously it would be poor taste to bring over a case of bmc and then drink all your homebrew. But you could tell them to bring over food. Hey, if your comin' over to have a few, pick up some snacks (or steaks).

I got into brewing because I love beer. I want to share that with as many people as I can to help promote and expand the hobby. I think you'll find that if you let your beer flow freely amongst friends they will return that favor to you later.

i think if i did that my friends would just drink bmc. so i give what i can...for the greater good.

Another vote for tacky.

I pretty much live by the motto - If you're invited somewhere, you should always bring something. Most of my friends do the same thing.

Reverend JC said:

I really only have a handful of guys (high school and college buddies) that come over and usually end up drinking about 5 pints a piece. not a big deal, but it is to the point they are so used to it they dont even throw out a thanks. Dont get me wrong, i dont need the gratitude but come on. I dont propagate my yeast yet so my cost per batch is about 8 bucks higher than yours Ed, which is still cheap, but when i didnt brew i also did not invite them over to my house for a case or two of beer i bought each weekend, they would bring some of their own.

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It sounds like you have some dead wood in your entourage.
Why don't you ask them what batch they would like next, draw up the recipe and cost it out.
Or make them buy Pizza for god sake.

Then again, in your case, they're dudes. What's tacky to a dude? Who cares?

I offer my beer to any of my guests but eventually I get something back in the form of a BBQ invite or help with machining, welding, etc. SWMBO and I enjoy having people over and so the benefit is that we do not have to drive and we get to stay in the comfort of our home.

I agree with those saying that they make their beer because they enjoy it and like to share it. I think a jar would be pushing the boundaries of good taste. Like someone else said, your good friends will volunteer to help. Consider that a good way to filter them out.

My neighbor and his wife come over often for beer and a movie. At the beginning of this summer he just started mowing my lawn without even asking. One less thing to worry about so I can brew on the weekends. Now that’s a friend!

A timely thread as SWMBO put a "donation"jar on the bar a couple days ago(and even seeded it with a few bucks).I'm not certain how i feel about it but more money for ingredients would be good.We created the monster of thirsty friends and neighbors by being very generous with our brew.I love that people love our beer and that satisfaction is a reward of sorts.All that said,i'd happily take donations but wouldn't ask for them.....maybe SWMBO will .
Cheers

I must say that if gratitude isn't being shown by guests then they generally don't get an invite again. When folks are coming over to drink my beer they usually bring something in the way of snacks or interesting imports for me to try. You know they're good peeps when they do that after you tell them not to. They then get the royal treatment at my place and that only reinforces their kick ass attitude.

Not having people in your house that you don't like (or who don't respect you) is by far the best rule in all cases, ESPECIALLY when it concerns beer.

If you want to fix the problem, the next time they show up don't have anything on tap and ready to serve. Just tell them that nothing is ready to be drank and watch the reaction. Then suggest that they go out and buy some brewskies to bring back and while they're out to pick up a pizza.

You are being taken advantage of because you reinforce the fact that you are a free and reliable source of good beer. Breaking that trend will end the ungracious behaviour.

What am I, Pavlov?

If my friends come over and enjoy the beer, they normally WANT to help me make some. Also I offer up all my equipment to them to come brew, with me helping them out, and I just take a cut of the bottled beer. Win Win situation. Very rarely (large parties) I will just disconnect the taps and let everyone that asks know that I am just out right now. Come back in a few weeks.

rdwj said:

Another vote for tacky.

I pretty much live by the motto - If you're invited somewhere, you should always bring something. Most of my friends do the same thing.

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I agree in theory. Friends are one thing. Ungrateful boozehounds are another I think

Foreigner said:

I agree in theory. Friends are one thing. Ungrateful boozehounds are another I think

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Ya, thankfully the only boosehounds I hang out with are grateful.

i love to share. i have a lot of friends. some of them are really good friends, but just don't think, and some are just aquatences that want to come over and drink my beer. if it's a good friend over, and they're cool, and share with me as well, such as bringing over some steaks to grill, whatever, then the beer flows freely. then theres others that come over, and just like to get wasted on my beer, to them i point out the beer money jar, and tell them it's a dollar a pull.

When you were young, did you ever save pennies in a milk jug? Or dollars in a cigar box? The idea is that it's a trivial sum of money that is easy to save and will ultimately build up to being something worthwhile.

I like the idea of putting up a picture with a little sign that says, "When I hit $XXX I can buy the _________ that I need to make better/larger quantities of/more excellent beer."

A donation jar. Not a tip jar. And not asking for donations to your pocket, but to the cause of a conical... or a plate chiller... or an extra carboy... or a larger brewkettle... or whatever it is that you need. Forget about "friends" being encouraged to donate, more than anything, I think it would encourage MEto put money in for my OWN beer... thereby helping me save faster. And, if friends saw ME putting money in for my own beer, then I'd imagine they'd be hard-pressed to not do the same.

And besides, if they like the beer, they won't be able to disagree with the "cause" you're soliciting for... They know what the money's going towards...

Yeah we tried this on the 4th, no one drank and in turn didn't donate when they did.... It really sucks because i'm going to have to spend quite a bit after my brew partner leaves for school (he bought most of the equipment and is taking it with him), i'll still have some, but if they expect me to float the bill EVERY time they're going to find themselves high, dry, and very very sober... lol

DeadYetiBrew said:

Yeah we tried this on the 4th, no one drank and in turn didn't donate when they did.... It really sucks because i'm going to have to spend quite a bit after my brew partner leaves for school (he bought most of the equipment and is taking it with him), i'll still have some, but if they expect me to float the bill EVERY time they're going to find themselves high, dry, and very very sober... lol

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Most of the people in this forum aren't worried about college kids... They are a special case.

Hey, i respect and love beer as much as the next person on this forum.

My mother calls me her special case too, still trying to figure that one out...


I brew and share with everyone but money is tight... I think it's tacky to ask but i also think it's tacky to not donate when you're drinking it right along with the brewer. If they don't help i'll be very high, dry, and sober too, lol...

DeadYetiBrew said:

Hey, i respect and love beer as much as the next person on this forum.

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Then it wasn't you I was talking about....

Damn Squirrels said:

Then it wasn't you I was talking about....

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nice to know you care about me then...

I have a large Budweiser bottle bank sitting on my kegerator. When I would buy a keg of commercial beer, I would multiply the cost by 1.5 and then divide the total by the number of servings. Then, everytime I'd get a beer, I'd put the money in to save for more beer or equipment to start homebrewing. Imagine my suprise and horror to find my father pitching $$ in when he'd get a beer. Never told him he had to, never expected or wanted him to. Told him to knock it off, the beer is free to him. So, now when I put money in, I put the whole amount in at the beginning..... He doesn't see me do it now, so he doesn't do it either. I do the same with my new batch of homebrew... supplies times 1.5. After a few batches, I'll have a few more bucks saved up and begin to shop for new toys to brew with.

My eldest will be of legal drinking age in another year. I told him he could bring his buddies over for homebrew and billiards but you're damn straight the tip jar will be out. For my buddies, the brew is free.

College students are definitely a special case.

I think a new option to the poll should be added:

It's cool until your out of college. But once you get a real job, it's tacky.

.

I plan to open a brewery, so it is cheap advertizing. Once we open friends MIGHT get a discount

Fingers said:

My eldest will be of legal drinking age in another year. I told him he could bring his buddies over for homebrew and billiards but you're damn straight the tip jar will be out. For my buddies, the brew is free.

College students are definitely a special case.

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Yeah, in a case where it's not your own direct friends I might put the jar out...but for my buddies the beer is free.

I guess I'm lucky as my friends and neighbors have all asked about kicking in $. I told them as long as I'm in the "research and development mode" the beer is free. If I have requests on a specific recipe that some have liked then I'll do it but they have to either pay for the yeast if I don't have it propogated and stored or they have to help with some or most of the process. One of my non-brewing colleagues at work even bought a few kegs and pays for ingredients since he doesn't have time to brew. All I do is divide the 10 gallon batch between us and he covers the costs for the ingredients. Sweet deal.

I don't have a keggerator yet and don't have to worry about neighbors or friends coming over and helping themselves with my homebrew. But I do give some away to coworkers (select few) that have an interest in my homebrew. Some are grateful enough to give me micros in return. Others have offered to halve the cost of future batchs. So far I have no problems with this method. But I do have a problem when other coworkers who ask about "when is your beer gonna make it to my place", or "why haven't you given me any of your beer yet". These are the guys that prefer BMC, and ask me if I can make a beer that's close to a BMC. My reply to them is this: Half for Half. Half cost half beer. From there I usually don't get anything else from them. I really don't have a problem trying to educate them and to increase they're awareness and palate of better beers. But to me, it's not worth my time and effort to give away beers to someone that "thinks" they should have it. All because I have given some away to others that "DO" appreciate it more and will fork out the dough to help with costs. Right now I have a coworker that has already put money in hand because he wants more good beer. These are the kinda people that are in my circle, and the one's that are educated past BMC.
That's my opinion, it may be a little off topic. But guess what, it's my 200th post you know what that means?! Cheers!

I usually drink with my wife's family and they all brew.
There is usually more than plenty to go around once
we start tasting each other's new brews.

I think praise and compliments on a job well done is payment enough for me. If people are into my beer, then I have no problem sharing. I'm the only one in my household who drinks it, so having friends over enjoying it is payment in and of itself.